AMERICAN CRIME – “Season Two: Episode Nine” – Following the on-campus murder of a fellow Leyland student, the entire community is forced to re-examine all of the choices they have made in the wake of the sexual encounter between Eric and Taylor; leaked personal information implicates both Kevin and Becca to the shooting; Sebastian targets the Leyland school by releasing its most sensitive information online, which causes Leslie to take drastic measures; and at Marshall High, Chris finds himself at a career crossroads when he faces a school review board, on “American Crime,” WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EST) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/Ryan Green)CONNOR JESSUP

“American Crime” finishes its second season on ABC tonight with a sobering, cinematic and socially relevant finale. The timely John Ridley drama, which feels more like a film than a TV series, has given viewers a thoughtful tale conveyed by a stellar repertory company with Felicity Huffman, Timothy Hutton, Elvis Nolasco, Regina King, Richard Cabral and Lili Taylor.

The most profound fault line in America, the matter of race relations, was as prominent in entertainment as in the news this year. This month, you could either watch the cable news networks for ongoing updates about the ugly things said and done during a certain political campaign on the subject of race/ethnicity, or you could watch ABC’s “American Crime.”

Race, sexual orientation and a school shooting were at the heart of the second season, a slower and more difficult story than the anthology series’ premiere season. In the season finale, expect repercussions of various characters’ bad decisions, selfish actions and untruths.

I caught up with the season 1 finale of “American Crime” this weekend and it’s sticking with me. While the viewer’s first impulse may be to ask, “did anyone get what they deserved?” we’re better off asking what it was all really about?

A brilliant, achingly contemporary series that set the bar for what a broadcast network TV show can be, “American Crime” was much less about crime than it was about America. The legal twists, the law enforcement turns, the evidence and inquiries were much less engrossing than the subtext: race, religion, class, prejudices and conflicts in contemporary America. As news headlines during the show’s run underscored the continuing divide, the drama’s references to Ferguson and “hands up, don’t shoot” made it especially topical.

John Ridley’s (“12 Years A Slave”) precedent-setting drama on ABC, a stylized anthology of 11 hours, focused on feelings as much as events. “I feel…” one of the characters uttered at the close, stretching for the truth. That happened to be Hector Tonz (played by Richard Cabral), whose story ended optimistically. But the line seemed to thrust responsibility back on viewers to examine what we felt.

The randomness of the outcomes depicted in the finale will be debated, but ultimately Ridley’s decisions felt true to life. Life is random in some measure. Certain characters are destroyed by hopelessness and awful circumstances, some destroy themselves, a few rise above. Felicity Huffman’s character Barb collapses with grief and anger. Only if she chooses forgiveness, her future daughter-in-law urges, will she rise again. Forgiveness, the theme of the finale starting with three families attending three different religious services on the subject, was depicted most clearly in the tearful hug between Alyiah (Regina King) and Aubrey’s foster mother.

Dare we feel… hopeful?

If not hopeful about America, how about hopeful for American television? Timothy Hutton and Felicity Huffman will return for a second season of “American Crime,” ABC announced. They will play different characters, with a different setting and a different crime, as Ridley reassembles his TV repertory company. The ratings have been slow to build but the quality is there; expect “American Crime” to pop up in multiple categories come awards nomination time.

Conan O’Brien sees plenty of material in the controversy over the Emmy nominations. When he hosts the 58th annual awards spectacle Sunday, Aug. 27, he plans to talk about the mess. At a press conference today he declined to give other hints, saying, Conan-style, “comedy, she’s a fickle lady.”
Hugh Laurie, Felicity Huffman, Matthew Perry, Jon Stewart and Julia Louis-Dryfus will be presenters; a tribute to Dick Clark on the 50th anniversary of “American Bandstand” is planned.
Serious TV watchers were outraged by this year’s Emmy noms. Read more…

Joanne Ostrow has been watching TV since before "reality" required quotation marks. "Hill Street Blues" was life-changing. If Dickens, Twain or Agatha Christie were alive today, they'd be writing for television. And proud of it.